


Forerunner Chronicles: The Harvest Years

by stellarstatelogic



Series: Forerunner Chronicles: The Harvest Years [1]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 05:37:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8132395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarstatelogic/pseuds/stellarstatelogic





	

Earthrise.

 

The light awakens, of a hundred-and-eighty standard seconds late counting from  the planet's very moment of reflecting light off from its mother star's prominence. Its presence was announced visually by the masses of blue and yellow and patches of green and swirling white upon its surface. In steadied quietness, it revolves slowly; a recognition of Life amidst Darkness, small against the void and millions of galaxies surrounding it, fragile yet sure.

 

 _Erda_.

 

Silent-Mist echoed its old name beneath her breath as she watched the miniscule gem emerged from Edom's vermilion horizon. Her lash-less eyes of lavender blinked for a few times in recalling the various names of the planet that was once special to her memories. She has always preferred to call it _Erde-Tyrene_ , the verdant crown-jewel. She took pleasure in how such literal sense has befitted its importance, at least, within the part which she has wished it to play within her composition.

 

She took her seat on an elevated platform within her quarantine to continue gazing towards the distant garden world. It felt oddly silent, as her ancilla and neural interface crystal have been separated and removed from her physical form. Those who have kept her in the room have given her a hooded robe of white fabric. The discomfort of not being accompanied by her ancilla was still nearly unbearable, despite how she has already accepted that Time has already failed to be relevant at her current state. She took a sigh as her glance grazed towards the lock to her quarantine which she has already identified it as an armament humanly sophisticated and ironically Forerunner since the first day of her stay.

 

At least it was a prominent sign to how her plans have come into frutation.

 

Moments within her meditation, the circular locks turned and retracted to let entrance for the old admiral who approached the hostage who has remained in sitting position with her clasping hands rested upon her own thighs. It was the moment when he could finally get a fair inspection on the alien, whom he has read by reports and has visually recognized it as a female. Terrence, as an Admiral, was more used to have others stand and salute to greet his presence, but the alien female remained seated, and somehow it felt natural for him -- she seemed gaunt, if not sickly frail, and despite her fragile form, he could still a particular kind of grace from her, which the he could tell it was from a lineage preserved by noble blood.

 

 _Nine-point-three feet_ , he reminded himself of her height. Despite how, for the moment, the alien woman's forehead reaches just below his chin. He observed further and noticed that a white sash of the same fabric of her robe has covered her hairless scalp and have put her eyes under its shade. He could only see the lower half of her pale, grayish face of subtle pink and bluish tint, with her sharp cheekbones adding visible contours on along the fair skin illuminated by the dimmed light. The facade reminded the man of the prominent bust statue of _a particular ancient Egyptian queen_ \-- only in a drastically different skin tone, and more tender by impression. He studied further, and noticed how the temporary headdress she adorns has oddly beckoned another visual symbol of _one specific female figure_ whose image was rather universal among humanity's own religions.

 

The overlapping impressions within his mind beckoned like a resonance. Terrence frowned. "Ma'am," he managed to start with aged courtesy.

 

The other nodded; "Lord of Admirals," she greeted in tender tone, which Terrence had to remind himself to not correct her choice of phrases used for the sake of keeping genuinity to the verbatim that would be simultaneously recorded. "The essentiality of your visit has been recognized and acknowledged. You have reclaimed me."

 

Her speech was enough to make the Admiral to suppress his second-thought on the possibility of her inability to comprehend the EUG's common tongue. He has been warned of her cryptic speech, and to his expectation, it seemed to be a decent first contact. "The Arbiter said you may be what the Covenant called as one of their gods," he implied with cautious certainty, and noticed a long, slow breath has been let out from her expression-less face.

 

"Godhood is not self-imposed;" she replied in his language with fluency just moments later. Her tone remained soft and eloquently evasive, if not elusively modest towards his implication. "History and its recurrences have provided enough evidences on those who have claimed such permutation."

 

"But the Covenant Remnants believed that cryo-pod which our scientists have unlocked you from was made to endorse a sacred being."

 

She moved her clasped hands into another gesture with long, five-digit fingers interwoven. "The sacredness is theirs to believe. But what do you believe, Lord -- of Admirals, as the one who has become the _key_ to my release?"

 

There was weight within her words softly spoken, and he felt slightly wavered yet remained resilient. "I believe you are a Forerunner, nothing more."

 

"Alas, the definition of 'Forerunner' is relative by the species of which my people have overwatched," she smiled -- in a rather figurative fashion. "History and its recurrences have also made evidences of how technologies of higher tiers can often be misinterpreted as supernatural powers by civilizations from the lower tiers," she leaned in towards him. "Divine faith is an accelerating factor for evolution of the mind, and in turn, manifests in the form of rapid civilization and technology development -- to survive."

 

"You're talking about us," he caught her implication; "Humanity."

 

"You have fought a war against all odds and have surpassed the Trial."

 

But her narration sounded as if it was a displeasing mockery, and he retorted. "Countless lives have been sacrificed by the Covenant. Innocent lives and colonies have been destroyed over this 'Divine faith' your people have taught them."

 

"And you have learned from your adversaries and have survived as a species," she remained in calmness. "You have acquired and adapted technology centuries in advance of your original state; you have learned to overcome the conflict waged between civilizations of other species and transcended adversities into cooperation. The collision would not have been brought without the stimulation triggered by faith of the Covenant which you have spoken of -- whichever permutation of their faith of the divine or of your faith in tenacity. Meanwhile, they -- your temporal enemies, have likewise learned and adapted."

 

"How did you know?"

 

"I had my own share of faith." Her eyes glistened; "I hoped, and the Erde Tyrene responded. She has prospered herself with the Reclaimers I have promised to this galaxy. It will only become better, within this place which my people have called it the Linnunrata;" she smiled figuratively once again, as she then stood up and turn to face her back against the glass window. The risen Earth hung straight above the Mars' horizon, like a blue gem adorning the much taller Forerunner. A crown jewel.

 

"Because there would have been a particular Reclaimer," she said. "He who I have yet seen, but have already recognized a thousand lifetimes beforehand."


End file.
